Vessel for fluid catalyst reaction with means for varying height of the dense phase



Oct. 28, 1952 p, PEET 2,615,796

VESSEL FOR FLUID CATALYST REACTION WITH MEANS FOR VARYING HEIGHT OF THE DENSE PHASE Filed Feb. 17, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 FIG. 3.

IN VEN TOR. Nick R Peer,

ATTORNEY.

Oct. 28, 1952 P.'PEET 2,615,796

VESSEL FOR FLUID CATALYST REACTION WITH MEANS FOR VARYING HEIGHT OF THE DENSE PHASE Filed Feb. 17, 1951 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 FIG. 2.- AF/G. 4.-

INVENTOR; Nick P. Peef,

ATTORNEY.

,in the stripper space;

.ber. .whichdivide it into a number of .cells,.it is nec- Patented Oct. 28, 1952 VESSEL FOR FLUID CATALYST: REACTION WITH MEANS- FOR VAItYIlNG -HEIGHT .OF"

THE DENSE PHASE Nick P. Peet, Baytown, Tex., assignor, by mesne assignments, to' Standard Oil Development Company, Elizabeth, N

l Delaware;-

J.,l a. corporation of:

, Application'February 1'1, msrfseriaam. 211,538

'Ifhisjapplication is conducting a chemical reaction in which a body offluidized solid catalystds maintained inthe reaction zone.

. fIt is known to the art to use a solid catalyst injafluidized state for conducting chemical re actions, Particularly for cracking'petroleumfractions; One typeof reactor being used commerciallyQfor. conducting this reaction is commonly termed.v the down-flow typejinasmuch as spent catalyst. is. removedfrom' the dense phase by downward How. This reactor may be described generally as. consisting of a shell with an inner cylindrical member. arranged concentrically in the lowerpartof the shell and having side-ports so that the spent catalyst is withdrawn through said. side ports into the annularspacebetween the inner cylindrical member and theshell p The. annular space between the.. shell" and the inner cylindrical member is the strip-pingspace andsinceit may be made relatively thin and high, it insures good stripping of the. spent catalyst. It .is preferred to divide this annular space into a considerable number of stripping cells by the use of .vertical partitions between the shell and inner cylindrical member in order to secure more uniform distribution of the spent catalyst with- In order. to secure good catalyst distribution within this space it isnec- .essary to -provide an adequate number ofv side ports in thewall of the, inner cylindrical mem- If the space is provided with the partitions essary that each cell have at least one portdischargin into it. Steam is introduced into the lowerportion of the annular space and flo-wsupwardlyto strip ofi' carbonaceous materialsfrom the spent catalyst. The stripping steam and stripped hydrocarbons pass into the upper portion of the reactor shellafter they leave the annular. space between the inner. cylindrical member and the shell. The stripping of the-spent catalyst is particularly important in that the complete commercial equipment must includea catalyst regenerator for regenerating thespent catalyst and often the throughput of the system is limited. by the capacity of the regenerator;

thorough steam stripping within the stripper is of.;particular. importance. in thatit reduces the amount-of capacity required by the .regenerator.

For a description of a reactor ofzth'e downfiow February 23,1949,

directed to a reactor for I The present invention is directed toa reactor of-the down-flow type" for conducting chemical reactions in the presence of fliiidized sol iiifcaita' lystsi the reactor has 'an annular stripping, zone which is provided with a" means whereby anoper at'or' may vary the height of the-dense catalyst phase? The apparatusmay be"described :bri'efly asconsistingof wall members bounding the inner, o'uteran'dupper sides of the-stripping-zone which is an annular space (with the,inner"'wall mam ber'also being theiwal'l confining the densecat lyst' phase); an" extension 'niember"'having*;its lower edge secured to one of the: wall" members and extending upwardly to definef'theupper'liinits of the" disperse phase," and a con'duit'stru'cture provided with" valve means toivaryits effective flow area connecting the annular strippingi zone with the reactor at a point above" thjefdejnse phase portion:ofthefiuidizedcatalyst; 1 j

Specific emb'o'dimentsof the present invention b i mt' e i h. t e

will now be describe" drawing in'which p Fig. 1 is in the-form oLanelevation partlyin corresponding parts oIEig, 1";1

section showing "one embodimenti of the' ipre's ent Fi'g a'is in thefbrmofian elevation partlyfin sectionshowing ari'otherfembo'diment of the. pres entinventio'naandl rrangement of parts. which may. be substituted .for corresponding partsof Big. 3, q f Turning now specifica-lly; to; the drawinggand first to Fig. l, the principal partsof-thespace in the. reactoraredesignated: ,by letters. .=;'I'hese spaces are the stripper A intheformof -an an.- nulus, thedenSe-Yphase-PB of'the catalyst-andthe disperse phase Got the catalyst, and conduit meansne I w The stripping ,sectionrwhich; is: thenannular space A has its outeryinner: and upper: portions boundedwby-xouter wall member H',..inner wall member. l2 andsannularawall member I 3} respec-- tively.. Annular member [3 .has:its' outer edge. secured to ther-upperfiend; of outer wall-1 member .H ;'and' its inner edgexsecured to the'zuppe'rr end of inner wall .memberg; l'2 jan'd thus seals off: the upper .end ofithe stripping-zone.) Inner r" Wall member I! is pierced byports llfor thepu'rpose of allowing catalystafrom the densephase to'be drawn cif into stripping :space A. for-T stripping before: it sent'to-a:;. regeneration. zone; The

" ispentgcatalystxisl' drawn ofi from strippingxspace F migisa fragmentaryyiew. showing l, different i from the regeneration zone (not shown in the drawing) through conduit is and discharges into the lower tapered section of wall portion 12- and hence occupies the space B with its upper surface designated as H.

A cylindrical extension member It! has its 7 lower edge secured to one of the :wallmembers which helps to define the stripping space A and has its upper edge terminating ina conduit IQ for the purpose of removing gases fromthe interior of the reactor. Thus the inner wall of extension member 18 and a portion pf the upper inner wall of:member,l2 and the upper surface of member [3 form the portion of the vessel which confines the disperse phase C; .In the course of the reaction it will be understood that the reactants are introduced in gasiform'. condition through conduit; [6} pass upwardly through dense phase Bwherethey react in contact with the catalyst and then pass from dense phase B to disperse phase Cult is desirable to separate substantially all of the catalyst from the reacted gases in disperse phase C before they are withdrawn through conduitQlB and; to accomplish this a cyclone separator. 2ll.is arrangedin'the upper portion of the 'reactor.'.: Of the materials which pass into the cycmn'e separator, reacted materials in gasiform conditionpa'ss' out of Ithe'top into conduit 19 and separated solids aredischarged downwardly ,througlipip'e 2| intokthe' dense phase B. The reactor grid plate f9 is, sjecured to inner wall l2; as well known to the art. the mixture of catalyst and reactant gases passes upwardly through grid 9"so that it forms'the lower boundary of dense hase B. Y

. I As, heretofore explained; the catalyst in] dense phaseBbecomes'contaminated and must be rcv generated. Catalyst is withdrawn from dense phase B through side ports l4 into stripping zone A where the catalyst passes downwardly and is met by upwardly flowing steamintroduced into zone A: through steam "pipes 22.- The upper boundary l'l'of the dense'phase must be maintained. above ports I4 in order to allow withdrawalof thecatalyst through ports M. In order to allow'the level 3 H; to be varied (this changes the depth of the-catalyst bed and hence the selectivity of the cracking reaction as well as the amount 'ofcatalyst in-thereactor) a means is providedwhich enables the pressure within stripper A to be changed "at the option of the opera- 'tor.- In-the embodiment 'otFig; 1, this means is'a conduit structure D consisting of a ring 23 with a series of inlet lines 24 each having'an 'end secured to and' opening through inner wall -l2 and? the" other end' secure'd to and opening into gathering ring123.. Ring 23-is provided with outlets 24 which dischargezinto the disperse phase :G with the flow. area ofreach discharge outlet controlled by valveLZS. '1 Each jvalve 25 may be rovided with an operating-rod 26*i'connected to .a hand wheel: 21%sdithat'thesareaof "flow of valves 24 may be controlledzby amoperator outside the tage. If the upper surface I! of dense phase B is to be lowered, this may be accomplished by increasing the flow area of valves 25, it being understood that in the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 the upper boundary I! of dense phase B must always be maintained above ports l4.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing another embodiment of the conduit means which may be used to connect stripping space A with disperse phase C. In Fig. 2- the conduit means is designated as D and consists of ring 30 which'is arranged outside of extension member l8. Ring 30 isconnected to stripping space A by tubesj3l each of which has its lower end attached to and openin through outer wall I4 and its upper end connected to and opening into ring 30. Outlets 3i, each having its area of flow controlled, by valve 33, are arranged each with its lower end connected into ring 30 and its upperend .connected to and discharging through extension 'wall Hi. In the embodiment of Fig. 2, the valves 33 are directly accessible to an operator outside the shell and hence do notrequire any extension handles passing through the shell bodiment of Fig. l.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 3. In this figure parts corresponding toithose of previously described embodiments are identified with like reference characters. The embodiment of Fig. 3 has siphons 40 for-connecting dense phase B with ports 14.? In addition, the embodiment of Fig. 3 has the eonduit structure discharging into the upper portion of th'e reactor abovecyclone 2B. The conduit structure consists of a ring 4| outside-extension wall IS with pipes 42 attached to and piercing wall ii and discharging into rings! for conducting stripping gases from stripper A into the-ring.

va-nta'ge to be taken of the pressure drop through cyclone 29 so that the upper surface I? of dense phase B may be lowered to a point -below side ports 14 without preventing the'withclrawal of spent catalyst through these ports.- Lower'ing the level of dense phase-B allows the cracking severitywithin the reactor to be decreased and decreases the amount of catalyst held up in the reactor. 'It is usual for the pressure drop across a cyclone to-be in the neighborhood of 2 or 3 pounds per square inch. By operating the stripper A at a pressure of 2 poundsper square inch lower than the pressure in the reactor, itis possible to lower thecatalyst level in the reactor about seven feet below ports M. 1

The. fragmentary view of Fig. 4 shows parts which may be substituted for like parts of Fig. 3.

.InIFlg. 4 the conduit means D'. is within the reactor. It consists of ring 45..with pipes Shaving their lower ends connected to andpiercing inner wall member 12 and the upper ends connected to and discharging into ring 45. A discharge pipe 47 provided with valve 48 for controlling the effective flow area thereof connects ring 45 with the discharge space above cyclone 20. It will be obvious that the arrangement of Fig. 4 may be substituted for like parts of Fig. 3 if desired and like results will be obtained.

By way of example but without intending to limit the invention, it may be mentioned that suitable dimensions for the reactor vessel are a height of 47 feet, diameter of 23 feet, a total height of stripper area A of 28 feet, and a depth of catalyst in the stripping zone of at least 14 feet. With such dimensions it will be found that good operating conditions may be obtained in the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 if ports M are eight feet above reactor grid 9. In the embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4 the total height of the reactor vessel may be 47 feet and the ports It may be eleven feet above the reactor grid 9. The height of the siphon 40 may be seven feet with a pressure drop of two pounds per square inch across the cyclone separator 20. If the disperse phase C is eight feet high, the catalyst reactor hold up will be approximately 100 tons and the hydrocarbon feed rate about 35,000 barrels per day with a cracking temperature in the range of about 925 to about 1000 F.

Having fully described and illustrated preferred embodiments of the present invention, what I wish to claim as new and useful and to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus adapted for contacting finely divided solids with gases, said apparatus comprising in combination, wall members bounding and enclosing an annular space consisting of an impermeable vertical, cylindrical, outer 'Wall member, an impermeable inner wall member placed within said outer wall member concentrically therewith, said inner wall member having at least one port opening in its wall to allow the passage of solids from the interior of inner wall member into said annular space, and an impermeable annular wall member with its outer edge secured to said outer wall member and its inner edge secured to said inner wall member. said walls thereby defining an annular stripping section and a central reaction section, a cylindrical extension member having its lower edge secured to one of said wall members and extending upwardly above the wall members, a conduit structure provided with valve means arranged to vary the efiective flow area thereof having one end secured to one of said wall members and opening into said annular space near the top thereof and its other end discharging into the interior of said extension member whereby the regulation of the effective flow area is effective to control the differential pressure between the annular space and the interior of the extension member when a fluidized bed is present within the central reaction section, first conduit means connected to the lower end of said inner wall member for introducing solid particles and gaseous reactants into the interior of said inner wall member from a point outside said outer wall member, second conduit means connected to the lower end of the outer wall member for removing solid particles from the lower end of said annular space, and a third conduit connected to the upper end of said extension member for removing gases from the interior thereof.

2. A device in accordance with claiml in which the conduit structure consists of an annular ring arranged concentrically within and adjacent the lower edge of said annular wall member with a plurality of inlet pipes each having its lower end connected to and piercing the inner wall member and its upper end connected to and piercing said ring and discharge outlets, each connected to the ring and provided with a valve altering the effective flow area thereof.

3. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which a separating cyclone is arranged within said extension member and secured thereto for separating solids from gases passing into said third conduit and in which the conduit structure consists of a gathering ring arranged adjacent the upper end of the outer wall member, tubes each having one end connected to and piercing said gathering ring and the other end connected to and piercing the outer wall member and a discharge pipe connected with a valve for varying the effective flow area thereof having one end connected to said gathering ring and the other end connected to and piercing the wall of said extension member to discharge into said third conduit above the separating cyclone.

NICK P. PEET.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Bockman Nov. 21, 1950 Number 

1. AN APPARATUS ADAPTED FOR CONTACTING FINELY DIVIDED SOLIDS WITH GASES, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, WALL MEMBERS BOUNDING AND ENCLOSING AN ANNULAR SPACE CONSISTING OF AN IMPERMEABLE VERTICAL, CYLINDRICAL, OUTER WALL MEMBER, AN IMPERMEABLE INNER WALL MEMBER PLACED WITHIN SAID OUTER WALL MEMBER CONCENTRICALLY THEREWITH, SAID INNER WALL MEMBER HAVING AT LEAST ONE PORT OPENING IN ITS WALL TO ALLOW THE PASSAGE OF SOLIDS FROM THE INTERIOR OF INNER WALL MEMBER INTO SAID ANNULAR SPACE, AND AN IMPERMEABLE ANNULAR WALL MEMBER WITH ITS OUTER EDGE SECURED TO SAID OUTER WALL MEMBER AND ITS INNER EDGE SECURED TO SAID INNER WALL MEMBER, SAID WALLS THEREBY DEFINING AN ANNULAR STRIPPING SECTION AND A CENTRAL REACTION SECTION, A CYLINDRICAL EXTENSION MEMBER HAVING ITS LOWER EDGE SECURED TO ONE OF SAID WALL MEMBERS AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY ABOVE THE WALL MEMBERS, A CONDUIT STRUCTURE PROVIDED WITH VALVE MEANS ARRANGED TO VARY THE EFFECTIVE FLOW AREA THEREOF HAVING ONE END SECURED TO ONE OF SAID WALL MEMBERS AND OPENING INTO SAID ANNULAR SPACE NEAR THE TOP THEREOF AND ITS OTHER END DICHARGING INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID EXTENSION MEMBER WHEREBY THE REGULATION OF THE EFFECTIVE FLOW AREA IS EFFECTIVE TO CONTROL THE DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE BETWEEN THE ANNULAR SPACE AND THE INTERIOR OF THE EXTENSION MEMBER WHEN A FLUIDIZED BED IS PRESENT WITHIN THE CENTRAL REACTION SECTION, FIRST CONDUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO THE LOWER END OF SAID INNER WALL MEMBER FOR INTRODUCING SOLID PARTICLES AND GASEOUS REACTANTS INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID INNER WALL MEMBER FROM A POINT OUTSIDE SAID OUTER WALL MEMBER, SECOND CONDUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO THE LOWER END OF THE OUTER WALL MEMBER FOR REMOVING SOLID PARTICLES FROM THE LOWER END OF SAID ANNULAR SPACE, AND A THIRD CONDUIT CONNECTED TO THE UPPER END OF SAID EXTENSION MEMBER FOR REMOVING GASES FROM THE INTERIOR THEREOF. 